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With only three weeks to go until SoundWalk 2011, my signature piece Where Is My Future needed a final content infusion. This weekend, Becky and I set out to gather the second video installment in preparation for production, and got more than we bargained for.

I’ll try to avoid spoilers for those who may attend the Long Beach event October 1, and focus instead on the serendipity. Our first video shoot took place in a local school on August 27, 2011, and generated the basic elements of our planned narrative. We decided to shoot the rest at my friend Martin‘s place in Mountain View, which offered privacy, good light, and some key architectural details.

Our latest collaborators

Martin has several digital cameras ready to hand and a sense of good fun that we hoped to turn to advantage. What we hadn’t counted on was the arrival earlier in the week of Martin’s friend Petr Vrána. International video artists don’t just fall from the sky every day in Mountain View (though they appear to do so further south). But rather than tuck our collective tail between our legs and reschedule, we decided to take Petr up on his offer to get involved. In return, we got an epic shoot.

What we’ve learned so far:

Having a second director doesn’t have to hurt, especially if the first is too busy performing to give instructions. It helps if the second likes your idea and is way more experienced than you!

A snowboard and aluminum ladder can make a suitable mount for a digital video projector, given enough bungee cords. You can project just about anywhere.